888 posts record revenues

Online casino and online poker firm 888 reported a nine per cent increase in first quarter revenue following strong demand across the company.

Gibraltar-based 888 said group revenue rose to a record US$103m in the three months ended March 31st 2013 from $94m the year earlier. Revenue B2C increased 10% to $92m.

Revenue B2C Casino climbed 13% to $48m year on year, boosted by the launch of slots in Italy. Revenue B2C Poker rose 15% to $24m, driven by successful winter marketing campaigns

Revenue B2C Emerging Offering jumped 27% to $8m after stronger Sport margins

The number of active customers for B2C Casino and Poker rose to 634,000 during the quarter from 566,000 a year earlier.

As at 31 March 2013, 888 had 13.8m Casino, Poker and Sport real money registered customer accounts, up 23% since 31 March 2012.

Chief Executive Officer Brian Mattingley said: "These are a fantastic set of results across all key metrics. Our excellent product offering, supported by our constantly innovative marketing and CRM capabilities, has helped us to deliver consistent growth and has positioned us well to take advantage of positive regulatory developments."

The company said the second quarter has started in line with expectations with daily average revenue during the first 20 days of April more than 3% above April 2012.

"Our performance continues to be led by our core casino and poker products and we are continuing to experience increases in customer deposits, bets and first time depositors," it explained.

CJ